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Note: “Manager” is the term I use for the Linux machine managing the other machines.
Make sure passwordless SSH login is working from the “manager” machine to all of the machines to be managed. Make sure to test the login and accept the SSH prompt.
Update and Upgrade
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sudo yum update -y
Install Ansible
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sudo yum install -y ansible-core
Confirm installation
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$ ansible --version
ansible [core 2.13.3]
config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
configured module search path = ['/home/dave/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
ansible python module location = /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/ansible
ansible collection location = /home/dave/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
executable location = /usr/bin/ansible
python version = 3.9.14 (main, Nov 7 2022, 00:00:00) [GCC 11.3.1 20220421 (Red Hat 11.3.1-2)]
jinja version = 3.1.2
libyaml = True
Inventory file
Create an “inventory” file that will list the machines to be managed. In a Red Hat installation a sample inventory file is located ##at “/etc/ansible/hosts”. Add something like the following, naming your machines to manage:
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[servers]
u22-a.lan
u22-b.lan
u22-c.lan
[all:vars]
ansible_python_interpreter=/usr/bin/python3
In the inventory file, you can have multiple sections (“[servers]”). You can also have multiple inventory files by using the -i flag.
Inventory files can also be in YAML format as explained here: https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/inventory_guide/intro_inventory.html
Ansible configuration file location
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/etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
Examples
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ansible all -m ping
ansible -i inventory.file all -m ping
“all” is a special keyword to indicate all sections within the same inventory file.